The Gazette-Journal’s All About Pets photo contest (Section C in this week’s paper) reached new heights this year with 139 entries collected since the contest was first announced on Feb. 8. The last time this contest was held in 2021, the paper received just 34 entries.

Photos of cats lazing atop their favorite chairs, dogs feeling the wind in their fur while lounging on boats and even a rabbit posing as the Easter bunny in a basket surrounded by crocheted carrots and eggs overwhelm the pages of our All About Pets special section in this week’s issue.

Our winners, chosen by Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society Executive Director Charles Brown and Communications and Development Coordinator Caitlin Donnelly, were an orange cat named Rusty in first place peeking out from the pocket of a pair of jeans hanging on a clothesline, photographed by Janet Moncure of West Point; a dog named Aela held by her owner Jake Hensley in second place; and Hutson the rabbit in third place snuggled up wi...